Door opening mechanism



Jan. 5, 1932. w. LAPATOFF 1,839,232

DOOR OPENING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25,, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 RNEY 1932- w. LAPATOFF 1,839,232

DOOR OPENING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 25; 1929 .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l I 1 I l Patented Jan. 5, 19 32 WILLIAM LAIPATQFF, OF INEW-YOB K;-:N. Y...

' 1 noon OPENING MECHANISM" j Application'filed September 25, 1929;. Serial No. 395,025.:

This invention relatesto door-operatinge mechanism-and has for its primary object t:.provide a novel and improved, simplified: structure adapted toibe installed to open and i close garage -.doors of private and: I public 3 garages.

One .of the objects of. my invention: is to: provide a motor driven door operating mech 1 anism constructed-and arranged preferably 1 on the interior and adj acent. the .etop .of :out-

Wardly swinging; garage :doorsincluding provision for automatically -making and."

breaking an electric circuit to the 'motor when the doors have reached their fullyiopen is and closed positions.

More specifically, my: invention 2 resides .in

anautomatic electricallyoperated. door .open.-. 1

ing: and-closing construction. including a single rotatable; shaft having feed; nuts .1 2'0 thereon movable in opposite directions, each:

of said; nuts-{having a lever connected to: a

swinging door to" open and ClOSBFthG: same;

To enable others'skilledinathe. art .to Eniore;

fully comprehend; the: underlying features-. -ofi1n pinvention, reference is h'aclztotheaccompanying drawings forming a part 10f the-x specificationin which Fig.1 is atop planiillustrating myiinven-.- tion--associated-swith apair of/hinged. doors. Fig. 2, 's a view similar to fFlgq l but show-v ingthe; doors in their open ,positionsz I Fig: 3is a top planshowingtheiight hand 2 door-iniits. closed position... 7 Fig; 4 is a view similarto *the door inits open positions;

Fig.15 is an enlarged detail view. showing.

the left hand-door and. its relation-to the-mm tor and 'rotatableshaft. 1 i

Fig. 6 is a front, inside "VleW' showing. the. motor mounting orasupport and its relation tosthe; driven shaft- Fig: :3. showing;

Referring noW to the (drawings wherein like .reference characters designates ;c0rre-' sponding parts throughout thevseveral views, "5 designates a portion ofthefront-wall of a garage or building and 6 a corner beamv or support The outwardly. swinglngjcomplesf' inentary doors, 7 8, are preferably connected to the front wall'bymeans of strap hinges .9 *10. Referring particularly to Figsrfiandzfi videdr Wltllz a slotted operable 72,1161 movable toward the right on ofthe'drawings,'anelectriomotor-*llismount edaon an inverted Lshaped bracket 12 preferably attached to the loutsidesurface of the verticalbeam or support 6, said bracket having a bearingtorisleeve 13 for a vertical 'shaft 14L. Preferablyiintegral with a shaft 14 is a 1 horizontal bearing; 15 for aright' and left i hand threaded rotatable screw shaft 16.- On" the outer 'endo'fthe shaft 116 th'ere-i's'mounted i a pulley wheel; which. mayvbe-driven-by a belt. trained .over a.silnilarpulley wheel on the motor shaft 17. Instead of a pulle ytand belt construction weaving the shaft 16; by the 1111013015115. a gear and 1 Wormiwheel may 5 be: providedto accomplish the. same-2 result. The shaft 16zand its bearing-are vertically adjustableinthat-the vertical shaft liznay be.

. raised 2dr loweredain the bearing or'sleeveand held secu-resbyscrews 18, 19. h

011 stheeleftthaind threaded portion 20'.of-

theshaft 16, '1. provide an internally thread-i.

ed: feedtnut121: :having lugs 22 formed: there- I With to which is j=pivotally connected :ata23w one ",end 'of' ans arm- 24,1 the 3 opposite end "or saidasarmi beingrin'turn 'fulcrumed' upon a bracket. mounted .upon-theoutside of; 'andizex-s 1 tendingiinto. a clearance. opening in. the door.

7 as indicated; by numeralfla l A supporting bracket 226 fastened to the outside surface 1 ofythei vertical beam. orsupport :6,- as atzQTyOaITleS a circuit: breaker orcircuit-r ;closin-g,= .devicewhich is offset tfronr theishaft l6 as clearly shown: byv Figs; 5 and Gof-therdraWings: The-feed nut 21'. is pro extension plate 28; the arm 29ofnwhich is adapted to cooperate with the! closing :device- Itov break the circuit and? stop'zthe operation ofrthe motorzwhen'the door::,7 is in its maxirnum fully:closed' posi=:-

The opposite complementary door 28 being}; similarly conn-e'cted by:an:-arm 24a to a--feed-:- nut Qlaop'ensand closes simultaneously withf the (1001.7, the; feedrnut 21a however being.

the. right, hand-:threaded portion 20aof the shaft. A bracket 12a attached to the oppoa site post-6 carries a bearing 13a 'and sleeve 15min :Whiclrthe oppositeend of the screw? shaft -is-notatably supported. The-post 46 with a head 47.

also supports a circuit making device, in circuit with the motor. It will of course be understood that the circuit making and breaking devices may be interchanged or associated with the opposite doors. In actual practice the circuit may be closed from a switch 30 at some point exterior of the garage doors as in a drive way.

The circuit making and breaking devices, or switches, by means of which the operation of the motor is automatically controlled when the doors approach, and are in, the extreme positions of opening or closing, may be operated by one of the feed nuts 21 and 21a, or, as shown in the drawings, each one of these feed nuts may operate one of the circuit making and breaking devices. In the drawings, the feed nut 21a engages upon a circuit making and breaking device when the doors are in a fully opened position The feed nut 21 engages upon a circuit making and breaking device or switch when the doors are closed. The circuit making and breaking devices or switches, operated by the feed nuts 21 and 21a, are similar in construction, and thelatter one is shown in enlarged detail in Figs. 5 and 6.

The base 31 of the circuit making and breaking device is fastened upon the bracket 26 by means of a bolt 32 and a nut 33, and,

at its other end, by a bolt 34 and a nut 35; the bolt 34 and the nut 35 are, however, insulated from the bracket 26 and from the base 31 'by a bushing 36 and a washer 37. By means of the lugs and wires 38 and 39, which are clamped onto the bolts 32 and34 by nuts 40, the circuit making and breaking device is connected into the operating circuit.

From the base 31 extends an inverted cup I 41, upon the bottom of which is mounted a large insulating disc 42. A contact spring 43 is insulatedly clamped upon the bracket 26 and the base 31 by being clamped onto the washer 37 below the nut 35 on the bolt 34. The contacting spring 43 is tensioned towards the cup 41 and normally rests upon the insulated disc 42. A shell 44 is slidably inserted into the open end of the cup 41. The base 45 of said shell normally extends out from the cup 41 and is engaged in abutment by the arm 29 of the extension plate 28, when the feed nut 21 is in the position of Figs. 5 and 6, i. e., the door is closed. From the base 45 extends, on the inside of the shell 44, a piston The piston 46 is slidably supported by the cup 41 and a compression spring is arranged around said piston on the inside of the shell 44. The ends of the compression spring 48 rest upon the bottom of the shell 45 and the cup 41, and that spring tends to push the shell 45 out of the cup 41. When the shell 44 and the piston 46 are not pushed into the position of Figs. 5 and 6, by the arm 29', the shell and piston are slid to the left,

the head 47 of the piston 46 stopping the movement when it comes to rest in abutment against the outside of the base of the cup 41. In that position of the piston, the contact spring 43 rests upon the head 47 and an electric contact is thereby established between the wires 48 and 49; whereas the circuit between said wires 48 and 49 is broken, when the contact spring 43 and the sliding parts of the circuit making and breaking device are in the positions of Figs. 5 and 6.

The wires 38 and' 39 of the circuit making and breaking device of Figs. 5 and 6 connect to the four-pole, double-throw switch 30 and the current feeder 49, respectively; the connecting wires 50 and 51 of the circuit making and breaking device, upon the right side of the door, which is operated by the feed nut 21a, also connect to the switch 30 and the current feeder 49, respectively. But the wire 50 is connected to the opposite side of the switch 30, so that one of the circuit making and breaking devices is connected into the circuit which supplies power for normal rotation to the motor 11, from the current feeders 49 and 52, whereas the other circuit making and breaking device is connected into the circuit which serves for the reverse operation of the motor.

When the doors are in an intermediary position, both circuit making and breaking devices are closed. The circuit which rotates the shaft 20 in such direction, so that the feed screws 21 and 21a move towards each other, is connected in series with the circuit making and breaking device of Fig. 6, so that the said circuit is opened when the two feed nuts reach their closest position and the doors are shut. Figs. 5 and 6 show that position of the operation of my device. But in the view of Fig. 5 the switch 30 is thrown down, so that the other circuit, which includes the closed circuit making and breaking device at the right side of the door, is closed, and the rotation of the shaft 20 starts to move the feed nuts 21 and 21a away from each other. As soon as the feed nut 21 is moved for a short distance to the left, the circuit of the circuit making and breaking device, which is controlled by said feed nut, closes, whereas the other circuit making and breaking device is opened when the feed nuts 21 and 21a reach their furthest position apart, when the door is open. When that happens, the motor comes to a stop, and the circuits are open until the double throw switch 30 is thrown up and the operation of the motor closes the door again. In this manner the function of my device requires manual operation of the reversing switch 30 only. That switch is only used to start the opening operation when the door is closed or to start the closing operation when the door is open, the current supply for the respective operations being automatically shut off at the end of said operations by the feed nuts 21 and 21a, respectively.

While I have shown and described my invention with some degree of particularity, it will be realized that other modifications and changes may be resorted to under special conditions. I therefore do not wish to be limited and restricted to the exact details shown and described but reserve the right to make such changes and modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the subject matter is now being claimed. I

Having shown and described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A. double door operating mechanism comprising in combination a pair'of hingedly connected, outwardly swinging doors, a motor, a right and left threaded screw shaft connected byv a belt drive to said motor, end bearings for said shaft, a vertical shaft 2e ormed with each of said end bearings, a sleeve for each of the vertical shafts and means for vertically and angularly adjusting said bearings, internally threaded feed nuts on said screw shaft operable in unison, pivoted arms connecting the feed nuts to said doors to open and close the same and means carried by said feed nuts to open and close a circuit to the motor to interrupt the operation of the screw shaft when said doors are in their fully opened and closed positions.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM LAP'ATOFF. 

